Saturday, July 28, 2012

When
they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments loft
over, so that nothing will be wasted.”

After the miracle of the
multiplication of the loaves and fish, by which our Savior fed some five
thousand men, the Lord instructed his disciples to gather up all of that which
was left over. These “fragments”, as Jesus calls them, fill twelve wicker baskets
– a sign of the fullness of time, and that the Savior is come twelve tribes of
Israel.

However, recalling that our
Lord gave the Bread of Life Discourse shortly after the miracle of the loaves,
we may well recognize that this gathering of the “fragments” was an illustration
of the presence of Christ under each and every part of the Most Blessed
Sacrament. Jesus is teaching his disciples that the Eucharistic particles must
be cared for, even after the conclusion of the Mass.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

And
James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and [Jesus] named them
Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder (Mark 3:17)

Today the Church celebrates the
feast of St. James the Greater, who was the brother of St. John the Evangelist.
This is the St. James who was first among the Apostles to be martyred (by Herod
in Jerusalem) and whose relics are venerated in Compostella, Spain.

St. James the Greater was not called
“the brother of the Lord” (that is St. James the Less), but he and his younger
brother St. John were called Boanerges
or “sons of Thunder”. Why did Jesus give them this designation?

The
fiery style of the sons of Zebedee

There are certainly several
incidents recorded in the Gospels which indicate the fiery preaching style of
Sts. James and John. Certainly, these two were burning in their evangelical
zeal, even to the point of some slight imperfection – this impetuousness was,
of course, purified through their experience of our Savior’s Passion and
Resurrection (as well as in the descent of the Holy Spirit).

Friday, July 20, 2012

When
he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd.

In the current year of the
Lectionary cycle (year B), the Church reads from the Gospel according to St.
Mark. However, starting next Sunday, we will turn from Mark to the Gospel
according to St. John. There, we will read of the multiplication of the loaves
and fish, as well as the Bread of Life Discourse.

Before this five-week turn to
the Gospel of St. John, we hear of the compassion which led Christ to work the
great miracle of feeding the multitudes. He saw the people as sheep having no shepherd. We will
appreciate this metaphor far better, if we consider the history of this phrase
in the Old Testament.

Monday, July 16, 2012

“Take, beloved son, this scapular of thy order as a badge of
my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace;
whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign
of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant.” (From the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to
St. Simon Stock, 16 July 1251)

While there are many scapulars, the brown scapular of the
Carmelite Order is certainly the most popular among the devotion of the people.
We need not mention the many miracles and graces which have been bestowed upon the
Christian faithful through this most precious gift of the Mother of God.
Through the brown scapular, countless souls have been converted, families
reconciled, and whole nations restored to the dominion of Christ.

However, while we must surely
recognize the great privileges bestowed upon the brown scapular, we may not
fully understand its significance. Why is it called a “scapular”? And, what
makes the brown scapular different from a religious medal (like, for example,
the Miraculous Medal)?

Friday, July 13, 2012

He
instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food,
no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a
second tunic.

When our Savior sent forth the
twelve Apostles in pairs to preach the Gospel to the Jews, he bade them to
carry no earthly provisions for their ministry, but simply to rely wholly upon
the good will of the people to whom they preached. Through the centuries, many
saints have imitated the letter of this precept – the obvious example is of St.
Francis of Assisi.

However, it is most common
today for both the parish priest and the apostolic preacher to carry not
only a walking stick, but even several tunics. While bishops and priests surely do rely upon the free-will offerings of the people (generally through the
Sunday collection), they now have not only shoes (as opposed to merely
sandals), but even cars!

What shall we say of this? Are
the Catholic bishops and priests of the modern day failing to observe Christ’s
precept of poverty?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I have recently been assigned to a new parish, and thus have been quite negligent in keeping up the New Theological Movement blog over the past weeks. However, I am now officially at the new assignment and will return to regular blogging, starting tomorrow morning.

I thank you for your patience, and for your prayers. The parish is named Corpus Christi, and is in Great Falls, MT. It was newly established by Bishop Michael Warfel in January 2012 (we are only six months old). It is my great joy to be assigned to serve the people of God in this place!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

One
of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing Jesus he fell at
his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point
of death.” […] There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that
she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.

In today’s Gospel, we read of
two figures: A woman and a young girl. The woman has suffered from hemorrhages
for twelve years; the child was only twelve years old when she died. Our Savior
heals the former, and raises the latter.

While many modern(ist) biblical
scholars have all sorts of theories as to why these two miracles are
intertwined, the Church Fathers see in these two women (rather, a woman and a
little girl) a metaphor for salvation history. These two are figures for the
manner in which the Jews and the Gentiles have been called to salvation in
Christ.